Firm News | 4.02.25
Wansbroughs and Wiltshire Community Foundation ‘Accelerate Action’ with International Women’s Day event
Wansbroughs and Wiltshire Community Foundation are proud to announce their collaboration to host a special International Women’s Day event on Friday 7th March 2025 at the Gathering Space, Griffin Estate, Lacock
It will celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day theme: “Accelerate Action”, highlighting the need for gender equality worldwide and calling for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.
While most women and girls enjoy a safe, fulfilled life in Wiltshire and Swindon there are many who don’t. Harassment, gender-based violence, discrimination and stereotyping are still commonplace. Despite this, a chronic lack of funding – women and girls’ groups receive less than 2 per cent of the UK’s total charitable giving – means there are few avenues of support.
Wansbroughs and Wiltshire Community Foundation formed a partnership last year to raise funds and awareness to begin to address this inequality and champion the advancement, empowerment and support of women and girls across Wiltshire and Swindon.
This exciting event will feature two inspirational speakers (bios below), who will be sharing their journeys, and insights on accelerating action for gender equality in their industries and beyond. Their thought-provoking speeches will encourage attendees to reflect on their role in driving meaningful change.
Anna Somaiya will be sharing her career journey which has spanned 32 years across the technology industry as well as insights on accelerating action for gender equality through her role as Founder of social enterprise, DiversITy-talent.
Sally Page will talk about her varied career and how she became a Sunday Times best-selling author. She will also explain why she is a passionate supporter and advocate of Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Women and Girls Fund.
The event will be facilitated by Joint CEO of Wiltshire Community Foundation, Fiona Oliver who will talk more about the work of the Foundation and the Women and Girls Fund; a dedicated fund that supports local projects that challenge the inequality, abuse and discrimination experienced by women and girls and advocate for change.
In addition to the speaker programme, the event will include further opportunities to support the Women and Girls Fund. 50% of the ticket price and 100% of proceeds from a raffle will go directly to the Fund, which in turn will help make Wiltshire and Swindon a fairer and safer place for all women and girls
Fiona Oliver, Joint Chief Executive at Wiltshire Community Foundation said:”
“This event is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while raising vital funds for local charities and community groups running positive projects that support, nurture and inspire women and girls from all backgrounds across Wiltshire and Swindon.
“We are grateful to Wansbroughs for their ongoing support of our Women and Girls Fund and in making this event possible.”
Sarah Alexander, Partner at Wansbroughs said:
“We’re thrilled to once again be partnering with Wiltshire Community Foundation to celebrate International Women’s Day. The theme ‘Accelerate Action’ is a powerful reminder that while we’ve made strides towards equality, there is still much work to be done. Together, we aim to inspire action, empower women and contribute to a brighter future.”
Event details:
Date: Friday 7th March
Time: 9.30am – 11.30am
Location: The Gathering Space, Griffin Estate, Bowden Hill, Lacock, SN15 2PP (please refer to the ticket website for detailed directions and parking information).
Tickets: £10.00 each, plus booking fee
For more information about the event or to secure your tickets, please visit: bit.ly/IWDAccelerateAction
The speakers:
Anna Somaiya, Founder and CEO DiversITy-talent
Anna is the founder of the social enterprise, DiversITy-talent which was set up to inspire young people and other untapped, underrepresented talent pools from diverse backgrounds into business and technology careers. With a technology career spanning more than 32 years, she has extensive people leadership experience, operating at a global and board level across a range of industries.
Anna is also CEO of US tech consulting business Anna Consultancy UK LLC and is the chair of Swindon homeless charity Alternative Angels which supports over 900 people a month living in food poverty. She continues to mentor a number of women in business and is an independent advisor to a number of clients across digital transformation, compliance, strategy, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Anna has received widespread recognition for her achievements in both technology and diversity and inclusion.
Sally Page – Author
Sally Page is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Keeper of Stories, which has now sold over 600k copies in the UK and has been translated into 30 languages. It was also shortlisted for British Book of the Year.
It was while Sally was working as a Philanthropy Manager for Wiltshire Community Foundation that she was signed by Harper Collins. She has since gone on to write and publish two more novels, with a fourth book due out in August. Sally is now delighted to support WCF as a funder rather than as a fundraiser.
Before her career in fundraising (and writing), Sally ran a market research company for many years, also, a flower shop and launched a small fountain pen company, PLOOMS, when she could not find the pen she wanted.
